New Birds for the Years Life List

 

Rather than repeating that massive list every time I make a post, Let's just update the one we've got. Over the last week I've seen some pretty amazing new species. Old favourites and brand a couple brand new birds I've never positively identified before. Birds 116 and 117 were seen on a river hike up Woodhus Creek on the 17th of this month (May). Creek hiking is an increasingly popular pastime. We see a lot of wildlife simply by throwing on a pair of shorts and our Keen sandals and using the creek itself as a path. The solitary sandpiper was seen a few times as it worked its way up the creek bed away from us. This was the case for most of the birds we saw today including an American dipper. I love dippers. They dance around the rushing water, bobbing their little bottoms periodically and looking like little curtsying bird princesses. I always felt a better name would have been American bobber. However, they do dip. To catch aquatic larvae, the dippers dive right into the rushing river and pluck the hapless invertebrates off the stones they cling to in the current. Another bird seen on that trip was a pair of Harlequin ducks. I've already seen some of those this year; on the ocean surf near Oyster River Estuary. However, that was the winter. To breed, these ducks move into whitewater streams.

On the 19th, a hike up ripple rock trail scored a few more new species for my list. A red-breasted sapsucker was one of the first birds I saw on the trail, hammering out its characteristic oval shaped sap holes in the bark of young red alders. The purple finch on the way out was a new one for the list as well. Interestingly, it seemed to be suffering from some sort of disease on its face, rendering one eye uselessly sealed shut. Lastly, when we were almost back home, a noise stopped us in our tracks. "Barred owl," said my dad, who has far more experience as an outdoorsman than I do. "No," I said, "During the day? It must be those ravens we heard a moment ago." My Dad replied confidently, "No, it was a barred owl." To settle the disagreement, he performed a good imitation of the barred owl's call. To my surprise, the barred owl hooted back, "Who cooks for you!" No doubt now. Dad was right; it was a barred owl, and the 120th bird on my list.

Closer to home, I nailed an orange-crowned warbler and an olive sided flycatcher with its characteristic call of "Quick! Three beers." I can't complain about 122 birds. A goal of 200 before the years end may be a little optimistic, so lets call it a hope. The goal will be 150. In summary, here are the new birds.

May 17th, 2014

116. Solitary Sandpiper

117. American Dipper

May 19th, 2014

118. Barred Owl

119. Red-breasted Sapsucker

120. Purple Finch

May 20th, 2014

121. Orange-crowned Warbler

122. Olive-sided Flycatcher